TALIQUA Clancy is on the cusp of an Olympic Games berth.

And for the 22-year-old beach volleyballer and newly-minted Port Adelaide supporter, her journey to become part of the green-and-gold contingent to Rio is something that she is focussed on with the steely determination the nation has come to expect of its elite athletes.

But there’s more to the 184cm Queensland-born, Adelaide-residing machine than simply her Olympic aspirations.

For the past week, Clancy has been part of Port Adelaide’s first week delivering its WillPOWER program in remote communities in the APY Lands of South Australia.

The opportunity to be involved in the Power’s community programs in these areas has allowed her to more fully embrace her Aboriginal heritage.

She admits her childhood spent in the small town of Kingroy in south-east Queensland was one devoid of her family’s traditional language and culture, her parents having spent their own formative years on cattle stations near the south-west town of Bundaberg.

Representing Australia on the beach volleyball world tour, she and her partner need only maintain their top-twelve ranking to qualify for next year’s Rio Games.

It’s a big task, but one she’s confident her two-woman team is up to.

portadelaidefc.com.au sat down with Clancy to talk culture, WillPOWER and elite volleyball.

Matthew Agius: This was your first trip to the APY Lands, and of course your first week involved as a role model for the WillPOWER program. What did you take away from the experience?

TC: I knew before I came on this trip that there’s still a long way for me to go learning about our culture. It’s been lost a lot in my family, but it was really nice, travelling out here, to see the language and traditions still play an important part in these communities [in the APY Lands]. The kids we met in schools taught me as much as I was able to help them.

MA: What about you own language group culture from back home in Queensland? What do you understand and know of it?

TC: I’m from Queensland, so most of my family grew up in a small town not too far from Bundaberg. Culturally with the language, there’s none there. My parents grew up on stations, working with cattle and that sort of thing.

MA: How did your involvement with WillPOWER and the Power Aboriginal programs come about?

TC: I was quite lucky because one of my coaches at the time knew Pauly from playing basketball. I wasn’t aware of the Aboriginal programs the club offered until about two years ago. When there was a chance to be involved, I jumped at it. There’s no hesitation when there’s so much benefit that comes out of it, even without the financial reward, doing these trips is something that allows me to give back.

MA: Working with Aboriginal kids is something you want to be involved with in years to come, isn’t it?

TC: Definitely. I’m in such a unique position and I don’t want to waste it. I don’t feel that I’m just representing my family, I feel that I’ve got an opportunity to give back and help the bigger Aboriginal community, not just myself.

MA: How did you get involved in beach volleyball to the extent you packed your bags in Queensland and moved to Adelaide?

TC: I lived in Kingroy, a small town in south-east Queensland, and started indoor volleyball, which is a common pathway here in Australia. I was lucky enough to be talent-identified and from there I went to a few camps to represent my state in beach and indoor. That’s when I first started on the beach.

I then moved to Queensland and was lucky enough to get a scholarship to Adelaide, where the AIS is based. That’s when I made the commitment to beach volleyball.

MA: And what do you need to do this year to seal Olympic qualification?

TC: We have a world tour, like in tennis, we have all our grand slams and opens. It’s important for us to maintain our world ranking through all four years of the cycle, but especially this year. The Olympic qualification season started at the beginning of 2015, and at the moment we’re ranked twelfth. That window closes in June next year and our aim is to be top-five by the end of this season. We’ll seal our position if we win the world champs, which is our ultimate goal.